Sonia Gandhi has urged her partymen to prepare for power should it fall into their lap. On the face of it, it is hard to take exception to her call. She has repeatedly said it will not be her party that will destabilise the BJP-led government: it will collapse, she maintains, under its own weight, from its ``internal contradictions''.That these contradictions are powerful is also not in doubt. But while her claim may be honest in letter it certainly is not so in spirit. It is no well-kept secret that AIADMK's Jayalalitha has been restrained in the recent past from pulling the rug from under this government's feet only because she was not sure of the Congress. Sonia's rallying cry could change that. The response of Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Bannerji's conduct is another imponderable in this drama.It is not hard to understand Sonia Gandhi's reasons. Her party is accustomed to thinking that governing or misgoverning this country is its prerogative. Two years out of power is about all thepunishment Congressmen seem able to take. No doubt the pressure is intense on her to put them back in the saddle sooner rather than later. But fairly impressive though Sonia Gandhi's management of this unruly lot has been to date, questioning the basis for her apparent confidence remains entirely in order. For one thing, keeping the party in check when the stakes are low is not the same thing as doing that when the fishes and loaves of power begin to beckon. The hitherto venerated Sonia Gandhi could discover that her unquestioned authority had become a thing of the past as several aspirants are inevitably denied their individual ambitions. It is not unreasonable to expect Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar, still fresh from the party's resounding victory in the state elections, to exploit this discontent.But above all the Gandhi dynasty's heiress, shrewd as she has been in trying to rejuvenate the party and playing her cards right with the people, can hardly think that a Congress government would be moreimmune to ``internal contradictions'' than the one it replaced. The Congress may have no qualms about dismissing the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, but things on this score have thankfully changed for the better since it was last in power. Attempts to abuse Article 356 of the Constitution could bring on her head the combined wrath of the Supreme Court and the presidency. Jayalalitha's track record in dealings with the government she allegedly supports should give pause to anyone who would seek her help to form a government. Helping her hide the many skeletons in her cupboard can only cover the Congress with disgrace.Mamata Bannerji's support likewise can only come at a price which may well turn out to be not worth paying. Add the legacy of an economic and nuclear-test mess which will do nothing to help a successor government. The Congress will stake its claim some time, true. But Sonia Gandhi might be better placed to play her hand after the elections to the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi assembliesare complete: That is if the Congress wins Rajasthan and Delhi while retaining Madhya Pradesh. Till then its rightful place is in the Opposition.
